UGa agriculture college buildings to be torn down across Georgia

ATLANTA | As many as 155 buildings identified as surplus across the state will be torn down once final approval is received by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

One Tifton building on the list fell down on its own last month. A stiff wind could take others.

None of the structures are on the university’s main Athens campus. Instead, they are scattered around experiment station farms, extension service offices and regional education centers.

One in Athens is a big, tin-covered hay barn on South Milledge near the college’s horse facility. A handful are in Burke County’s Southeast Research and Education Center in Midville.

The 155 amount to almost 20 percent of the college’s 928 buildings on 18,000 acres.

“All these buildings are old, inefficient and, in some cases, dangerous,” said Bob Shulstad, the college’s associate dean for research.

Most are barns, tractor sheds, chicken houses and pump houses.

Some, though, are the long-vacant, former residences of the families who donated the land, and they’re getting a closer look by a crew from the Department of Natural Resources to see if they have any historical significance. State law requires such a review before demolishing any building older than 50 years.

While 143 of the fated structures are old enough to require review, 114 have already been deemed unremarkable. Shulstad believes the remaining 30 will eventually be cleared for the wrecking ball.

The House and Senate agriculture committees initiated the mass demolition as a way to save money maintaining them. The college has been dipping into its operations budget for upkeep because, unlike the rest of the University System of Georgia, the college gets a separate appropriation from the General Assembly with no formula for maintenance.

The estimated $1.5 million cost to bulldoze them all and replace a handful that are still needed is coming from the recent sale of the college’s research farm adjacent to the main campus.

“It’s giving us an opportunity to address his long-term problem,” Shulstad said.

All of the buildings on that farm property would have made the list, too, if they hadn’t been sold.

The University System Board of Regents gave its approval this week. After the historical review, the State Properties Commission must give the final OK, and college officials expect the whole project will be completed by the end of 2016.